Computer & Internet Newbie Guide

As you download more files and create more documents and notes on your computer, you’ll find that your desktop can get quite full and messy. It’s easy to fix and get organized again!

• Right click on an empty spot on your desktop
• Select New
• Select Folder
• Name the folder (example ‘ebooks’)
• Drag and drop all the files into the folder that you’d like to keep in there

Once you’ve placed all your files in that folder, you can choose to keep the folder on your desktop or tuck it out of the way to another location such as My Documents.

• Right click on the new folder you just created
• Select ‘Cut’
• Go to the place you want to place that new folder - say My Documents for example

Once you’re inside ‘My Documents’:

• Click ‘Edit’ on the top menu bar
• Select ‘Paste’

It’s a good idea to make backups of your files and save them off your computer for safekeeping. You can use floppy disks (also known as diskettes) to do that:

• Go to the file you want to save
• Right click on the file
• Select ‘Send To’
• Select ‘A:’ or ‘3.5″ Floppy’
• Insert Floppy to your A:

Your computer will now proceed with the copy process

Another way to save files to a diskette is to:

• Right click your Start Button (on your start menu)
• Choose ‘Explore’
• Locate the file you wish to save
• In the right pane of the window, left click the file and hold mouse down to drag that file over to the left pane window and drop onto the A: icon at the top left of the window.

Files you may wish to make copies or backups of could include:

• Your email address book
• Your browser bookmarks/favorites
• Your emails
• Important documents

Finding Files On Your Computer

If you can’t remember where you saved a file on your computer, try using the ‘Find’ option.

• Go Start
• Select ‘Search’
• Select ‘Files or Folders’
• Enter the file name in the ‘Search For Files Or Folders Name’ box in the top left corner
• Click ‘Search Now’

Your computer will scan through all your files and folders looking for that file. If it doesn’t find it (usually because you don’t have the right file name), you can try another search with a different filename.

Searching Tip:

You don’t need to know the extension of the file (such as pdf or exe). You don’t even need to know the full file name. If you are looking for a file that is named: computertips.pdf, you can simply do a search for ‘comp’ and all the files that have included the string ‘comp’ will show in the results.

Another Search Option:

You can also try looking for the file manually through Windows Explorer. All the files on your computer are stored in there. Right click on your Start button, choose ‘Explore’ and search through those files and folders. It may be tedious, but your file is in there somewhere (unless you deleted it) as all your files are kept here.